Abstract

Pre-Surgical Assessment of Left Ventricular Function in High Risk Patients: The Use of Hand-Carried Cardiac Ultrasound by a Novel Operator

Assessment of left ventricular (LV) function for evaluation of surgical risk in high risk patients relies on echocardiography studies that are expertise dependent and costly. We evaluated the accuracy of a briefly trained examiner to identify asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction (ALVD) utilizing a handcarried cardiac ultrasound (HCU) device as part of the first patient examination.